Get me to the GARDEN on time

Furnishing your own freshly picked wedding and reception blossoms is a growing trend. But it isn't for everyone. Most brides (and mothers-of-the-bride) tend to think they have enough to worry about without being knee-deep in the posy patch. Wedding Essentials comes to the rescue with suggestions to help assure that you'll have ample garden flowers at their peak for your big day.

Many kinds of flowers that are ideal for bridal arrangements and bouquets can be planted spring through fall for enjoyment the following year.

If you want showy, fragrant iris flowers for a spring wedding, August is the ideal time to plant the rhizomes. Irises come in every color of the rainbow and bloom time normally peaks in mid- to late May.

If you prefer spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips or daffodils, October is the ideal planting time. Most daffodils bloom in April in the Midlands; tulips generally peak a bit later.

Spring's fickle weather, though, makes it difficult to time blooms to a specific event. Planting a range of early, mid-season and late varieties will increase your chances of having blooms ready when you need them.

For a summer wedding, lilies are ideal. These bulbs are best planted in autumn. Asiatic lilies, the easiest to grow, usually peak in late June to early July. Oriental lilies, known for their sweet perfume, bloom a bit later.

Now through fall is also a good time to plant many kinds of perennial flowers. Among the best for cutting are aster, balloon flower, black-eyed Susan, blazing star, blanket flower, boltonia, coneflower, coral bells, coreopsis, monkshood, salvia, veronica and yarrow. A few other wedding- worthy perennials, such as columbine and Shasta daisy, are best planted in the spring.

The bloom season is relatively short for many perennials, and some kinds take a year or more to reach full flower production.

For that reason, you also might want to plant annuals to be assured of ample blossoms. Most annuals bloom all summer long. Angelonia, bachelor buttons, dianthus, globe amaranth, cleome, cosmos, lisianthus, snapdragon and zinnia are a few that make good cut flowers.

Unless you're an experienced rose grower, it's best to leave long-stemmed hybrid tea roses to the experts. Shrub roses, on the other hand, require no special care and bloom over a long period. Their flowers look beautiful floating in a bowl with other blossoms.

Bouquets often look best when blossoms are interspersed with foliage or small flowers, called fillers. Perennial baby's breath is easy to grow but often stops blooming in July. For continual summer flowering, plant annual baby's breath.

Formal flower arrangements aren't as easy to make as they look. Practice ahead or get an experienced friend to help.

For a wedding in a church or hall, think big. Otherwise you're likely to discover that the flower arrangement that looks large at home will seem small when displayed in a big space.

For more ideas: “Garden to Vase: Growing and Using Your Own Cut Flowers” (Timber Press, 2007, $29.95) describes more than 200 outstanding plants for use in arrangements. Written by a gardener who is also a floral designer, the book shows how to create arrangements for a special occasion.